Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Spanning 22 issues, X-Men: The Hidden Years filled a gap in mutant history by presenting new stories set during the period of X-Men #67-93, when the original series ran only reprints.

One of the standout characters of the "hidden years" was Candy Southern, longtime girlfriend to Warren Worthington III.

When Warren went missing, Candy surprised the X-Men by revealing that she knew her boyfriend was the hero Angel and that Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster's was their secret headquarters. Why her knowledge of these facts came as a shock to anyone was in itself surprising. Unless Warren kept his shirt on throughout their relationship, it was only a matter of time before Candy would learn about his wings and crimefighting career.

Candy requested to accompany the X-Men in their search for Angel. The merry mutants reluctantly agreed so long as she borrowed a spare costume from Marvel Girl to protect her true identity. Though lacking super-powers, Candy maintained an impressive (or naïve) level of confidence during the adventure—retroactively setting the stage for her role as leader of the New Defenders.

The above page comes from X-Men: The Hidden Years #13, written and pencilled by John Byrne.